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Saturday, 15 January 2011

One of the favorite flowers of my garden this year was the globe amaranth (gomphrena globosa). It had an amazing color, with a lot of flowers and buttons.

Globe amaranth is definitely one of my favorites

Funny thing, globe amaranth it is native back at my country, but I didn't knew the plant until I got to japan. They are very common here. Usually they are grown in gardens as cut flowers, but it is also normal to see them as a urban wild flower. I have seen many growing on some sidewalks or on the ground patch around the train tracks.

Their name here is 千日紅 (せんにちこう）, which translates something like a thousand days red. I think is a perfect name, because flower's color last so long. Even now that mines were so dried the little globes still have very vibrant colors.

My globe amaranth was almost completely gone

Because I liked them so much, I wanted to have it again next season. So I decided to harvest some seeds from my plant. I wanted to wait until the plant dried completely by itself. But I don't really had the space, so when I moved things around to make space for the new rack I had to take it out.

I took out the heads from the dead flowers and save them apart to let them finish dry. I could tell many of the lower seeds were ready to pick but they still had a bit of moisture on the tip of the flowers. I think is best if I wait a bit longer to set them apart. I really hope they will grow well next season and bloom as nicely as this past ones.

I will store this Globe amaranth seeds after they dry

I would recommend to any gardener to have some on their garden. Because of their height I think they will make very nice background flowers. It is a beautiful plant, very hardy and with blooms that last forever. They even add a nice touch of color even when they are dry.

And remember, the carnival is on the 17th!

Be ready with a post about what do you plan on doing at your garden this year, maybe about one particular plant you want to have, a renovation you will do, a special patch you will grow, a new gardening technique you will give a try, or any other project you have prepared for this new year.

Funny that you have to cross an ocean to encounter a plant that was native to Mexico! Still, Mexico is a huge place, and the amaranths might had a limited distribution, like the thousands of California plants that live only in their specialized niches...

Beautiful little globe amaranth flowers. I hope you will be able to grow them again next season from the seeds you've collected.

It is indeed amusing that after we leave our native country and settle to a new place, that's when we discover and appreciate some plants that we didn't use to care about back home. I too have the same experience.

Are they also call Bachelor's Buttons? I never think much about this plant until reading your post now I am inspired to plant the seeds. I have a whole bag of them given to me by my mother's neighbour.

I like to grow those, too. I used to pick most of them to dry, but lately, I've been enjoying them in the garden. I love how they hold their blooms for so long. I don't think I've tried to harvest my own seeds before.

I had a go at saving seeds from a tomato plant last year. I'm anxious to see if they germinate this year as it's the first time I've saved seeds from anything. I left a comment on your previous post but it hasn't shown up, I think Blogger may have been playing games.